Garden Q&A: What will I do with fallen leaves around flowerbeds?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions 

Instead of looking at fallen leaves as a waste product, we should use them to create the greatest soil conditioner that we can add to our gardens. File picture

We’ve a few beds scattered around our garden. They are surrounded by trees. Should we leave the fallen leaves on them or gather them and store them for a year to break down?

ANSWER

Either option will be fine. Fallen leaves are the most valuable ingredient for healthy soil. It's an ingredient that money can't buy. 

I would leave them on the beds where they fall and earthworms, beneficial fungi, bacteria and other soil microbes will break them down into rich, crumbly humus. 

Alternatively — and in particular for leaves on a lawn or on paths which need to be removed — collect them all into a bag and leave them to break down for the year and then spread the crumbly mixture as a mulch on your soil and it will be like breathing new life into the root zone of your plants.

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